


Accidental Hero

by Lyra_Kero



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Curses, Fluff, I'm late to this party but fuck it, Kind of that DnD episode?, Love at First Sight, M/M, Princes & Princesses, Uh its just kind of Sleeping Beauty, but not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-23 18:06:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14939237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyra_Kero/pseuds/Lyra_Kero
Summary: What happens when you accidentally finish two-thirds of a trial to save a princess from a curse?You complete the last third just as unaware. Also, you find out it's not a princess but, really, who cares?





	Accidental Hero

**Author's Note:**

> I started a different version of this before Season 6. 
> 
> It's not beta'd or anything. I literally sat down and wrote this right after I woke up from the little sleep I got.  
> I just needed to get something to make myself want to write again and literally blasted Holding Out For a Hero the entire time I wrote this to keep me motivated.

“Lance are you sure about this?” Hunk’s voice came worried somewhere behind him. Lance huffed, ears flicking in annoyance as he turned and narrowed his eyes.

“For the hundredth time, _yes_.” he said, “Look, this castle has been abandoned for years. There’s bound to be some good loot in here!”  
“Yeah,” Pidge piped up, eyebrow raised, “ _or_ , more likely, it’s crawling with monsters.”

 

“I’m with Pidge on this,” Shiro frowned as he crossed his arms. “It could be dangerous.”

 

“That’s why I’m going in for recon!” Lance failed to hold back his offence. He turned to the last member of their party, eyes wide, “Allura, you believe in me, don’t you?”

 

Allura only stuck out her lower lip, looking at the castle before them. It was grey, covered in overgrown weeds. Vines curled up, clinging to every crack in the structure. “I don’t know.” she said quietly. “It just… something doesn’t feel right about this place.”

 

Lance groaned, but turned, walking across the lowered, decaying drawbridge. Even if the thing broke under him, the moat that had once encircled the place had seemingly dried up.  
“Lance!” Hunk called out, worried.   
“Don’t worry!” the rogue turned, grinning as he gave a two-fingered salute to the rest of his party. “I’ll just check out the lower floor and I’ll let you know if it’s safe!”

“We’re not saving you if you get in trouble!” Pidge called out, annoyed, knowing that they in fact would, because none of them really wanted him to get hurt.

 

And like that, Lance had raced across the rest of the way, disappearing into the castle.  
The group were quiet for only a short while before Hunk turned to Allura, who had been quiet since the group had stumbled across the castle. “Uh, Allura? You alright over there?”

 

Allura jumped, a quiet noise slipping out her throat. “Oh! Yes!” She smiled, weakly, before looking back to the castle. “It’s just… I think I remember a story about this place.”  
“Story?” Shiro turned, raising an eyebrow, everyone’s attention being drawn as Allura frowned more.

 

“Yes. It’s… just a fairy tale, of course. But everything we’ve seen and been through… it’s been eerily similar to the story.” She sighed, closing her eyes before she began to speak, retelling the story.

 

“Long ago, a king and queen ruled the lands. The gods gifted them with two children, a boy and a girl. Their kingdom loved and celebrated the children, but a witch, who had strived to be blessed with children, grew cold and jealous. One night she entered the castle under the guise of giving gifts for the children, but instead she cursed them. When they’d reach their seventeenth birthday, they would fall into a slumber like death and the king and queen could only ever recover one. The other would be left, never aging and forever in slumber.

“The king and queen were distraught, unsure of what to do. They scoured the lands for someone who could reverse the curse but it seemed all hope was lost. Their children’s seventeenth birthdays were approaching when an old woman entered, claiming she could help them. She had been working on a spell that would give the child that wasn’t rescued a chance to come back to life, but the child themself had to accept it.”

 

“What happened?” Hunk asked quietly when Allura fell quiet again.  
“One of the children accepted the spell. By the time their birthday came around, both children fell to their curses, and the parents revived the one that they could. They waited, hoping for the day their other child would come back to them. There was a certain… a certain need that had to be met. It was something so simple, but also challenging. A test of one’s skills to make it to the castle. Someone had to come and prove themselves worthy of being the one to break the spell.”

 

“Like… getting through an illusionary forest?” Pidge asked, slowly.  
“And fighting a feral, insane unicorn?” Hunk added, eyes widening. Allura only nodded.

“A test of wits, a test of endurance.” She turned, looking up to the castle as her mind raced. “And one more test.”  
“What was the last one?” Shiro asked.

 

Allura frowned deeply, worrying her bottom lip.  
“A test of the heart.”

 

Everyone fell silent as they looked up to the castle.  
“Shouldn’t… we all technically be going in there?” Hunk asked, looking back to the rest of the group.  
“Yeah! We all fought that unicorn!” Pidge said, watching as Allura shook her head.

“Lance was the one who dealt the final blow.” she said, “And Lance was the one who guided us out of the illusion.” she added before anyone could chime in on that action.

 

“So…. what you’re telling me is,” Hunk frowned deeper, “Lance has, inadvertently, been taking the steps to save a princess?”  
“He’s going to be insufferable if he pulls this off.” Pidge mumbled, shoulders slumping. “More than usual.”

 

+++++

 

The castle was dark, dingy and dusty. Lance was quiet as he crept through the halls, ears on high alert for any sound of movement. He couldn’t detect any traps, each room he peeked into was just as cold and desolate as the rest of the castle.

No one had been here in years. It didn’t even seem the animals had entered the place. It wasn’t like they couldn’t. Maybe they just _didn’t want to_.  
Ooo, spooky thought.

 

A chill ran down his spine as he stiffened, grabbing at a knife and spun around, pointing the blade at--

Nothing. Nothing’s there, Lance, calm down.

 

But he couldn’t calm down. There was something wrong. He could feel something following him. Watching him. He gritted his teeth, straining his ears to try and listen harder for anything. The sound of mice skittering. A bird chirping somewhere. Wind blowing the dust. Anything.

 

He jumped when a quiet sound reached his ears and he turned again, shouting out in surprise when he saw a figure before him. A woman with dark hair dressed in folds of cloth. Her hair was braided, trailing over her shoulder and she smiled with dark, dark eyes. Lance tensed up.

 

Okay. Yes. She was beautiful. But she also was _not here before_. Definitely not. “Who are you?” he snapped, growling as he tightened his grip on his knife. “Where’d you come from?”

 

The woman looked to him, her smile growing before she raised the hem of her dress, “Follow me, brave sir.” her voice was ethereal. Light and calming. “I shall lead you to where you need to be.”

“That answered exactly _none_ of my questions!” Lance shouted as the woman turned and walked away, her footsteps echoing off the quiet halls. He bristled, eyes flicking around, expecting someone or something to come out and attack him.

He should go back for the group, but when he turned around something felt.. Wrong. It was a weird, deep sense of wrong. Like that was the worst thing he could do.  
Lance frowned, going, instead, to follow the woman.

 

Lance was always one to trust his gut. It had gotten him into trouble before, yes, but more often than not it was the right choice to make.  
He just hoped that this would be one of those times.

 

 

Lance wasn’t sure how many steps they walked up, Lance’s tension refused to leave him. He continued to ask the woman where they were going and what this was all about but she only ever told him _“You’re going where you’re needed to be”_ which, as stated before, answered absolutely none of his questions.

 

They finally reached the top of another set of steps, and the woman turned, walking down the hall, opening a door. Lance’s eyes widened as his jaw dropped. “Holy crow!!”

Inside, the room was filled to the brim with shiny, _shiny_ gold! Heirlooms, painting, jewels, crowns, silver… it was like a child’s book representation of a pirate’s treasure cave. His tail twitched and his hands flexed. He was _right_! This place was _loaded with loot_!! He turned to the woman, opening his mouth, but stopped when she saw her standing at another door. She only looked to him, smiling softly.

 

“Uh,” Lance eyed the treasure, _sweet, glorious, beautiful treasure_ , then back to the woman. “Is there, like… a door number two?”  
“There’s nothing behind this door that would interest you.” she said, her voice firm. “Your heart’s desire lies before you.”

 

Okay, yeah, no. That sounded cryptic as hell. “And, what lies behind that?” he asked, motioning to the door. He carefully stepped back from the treasure room.  
“A curse.” she said. “A terrible curse.”

 

Lance’s steps stopped. That… that sounded bad. But this whole thing was weird. He eyed the room with the gold, then back to the woman. “Can I… take a peek in that room at least?”  
“A curse lies within.” she repeated. “You do not want any part of it.”  
“Yeah, well, this is all kinds of sketchy!” the rogue bristled, ears lowering. “You never said where you frickin’ appeared from! You just show up and lead me to a room full of gold and then just… expect me to take it? Like that?” He waved his hands around. “No no no! What’s in that room!” He stormed over, reaching for the door handle.

 

He expected the woman to stop him, but he was allowed to yank open the door. He squeezed his eyes closed, half expecting… whatever was in the room to hit him. But nothing did.  
Lance carefully opened his eyes and looked around.

 

It was a bedroom. It was just as dusty and dark as the rest of the castle (which just made the shiny, pretty treasure room all the more sketchy). Only in here there was something.  
Someone.

 

A boy was lying on the bed, hair dark and curling around his face, his eyes closed peacefully. Lance frowned, turning to talk to the woman, but she only smiled. She seemed happy.  
“Wake him.” she said softly, and before Lance could blink she was gone. It wasn’t a slow fade, or a wink or light. She just… was gone.

 

Lance frowned, looking around the hall. The room that had once held all the treasure was gone, the room barren and empty. He turned back to the person on the bed and, swallowing, he stepped forward, slowly making his way over. He kept his steps light, not wanting to wake him, even if that’s what the woman said to do.

 

Up close, Lance saw the man was beautiful. He also kind of… reminded him of the woman he’d followed. Only, you know, in guy form. He frowned, looking over the man’s face. His skin pale, standing out against the ink black tresses. His face didn’t show any signs of blemishes, and he, surprisingly, wasn’t covered in dust.

Why would he be? He probably just fell asleep in here.

 

But he couldn’t have. Lance saw absolutely no sign of anyone being in the castle for a very long time. If this guy just showed up recently, he would have been able to notice it.  
Lance reached out his hand, lightly brushing a stray strand of hair from the man’s face and, _wow_ , okay. He was warm. Lance could also see the faint, subtle rise and fall of his chest.

 

He was breathing. He was alive.

 

Lance leaned closer, his gut pulling him forward and Lance wants to say, right now, he’d never, _never_ done something like this! Consent is sexy!  
But Lance closed his eyes, planting a soft, chaste kiss to the man’s lips. It was brief, only lasting a few short seconds, and he pulled back.

 

The man laid there, his lips parted faintly from the previous pressure. Lance was beginning to feel like a creep. Why did he do that? Seriously, what was up with this castle? He started to stand up, planning on leaving and telling the group that he found nothing and they had no reason to go inside, when he saw it.

 

The man twitched, his eyes moving against his eyelids before he opened them. It was slow, as he looked around the room, soon his gaze falling on the rogue. Lance felt himself tense.  
 _This guy knows what I did and he’s going to skin me!_ He thought, tail bristling, fur standing on edge.

 

Instead of seething anger, the young man slowly moved, sitting up as he looked to Lance, an unrecognizable expression on his face. A mixture of, what Lance could make out, awe and fear and confusion and happiness. Probably more but, Lance really couldn’t figure them out.

 

“You,” the man’s voice was cracked and rough, “you… saved me?”  
“Uh,” the rogue glanced around the room, as if the answer to the question was somewhere. “I… I don’t know.” he admitted, looking back to the man. “Look, I just… my party and I were just exploring and I came inside here, and--”

“You broke the spell.” the man continued, a small smile managing to spread on his face.  
“I… guess?” He looked at the man, blushing as he scratched the back of his neck. “Um, are you… can you stand?”

 

It turned out that, yes, the man could. He was wobbly, and Lance had to catch him from falling flat on his face. The man was dressed just as extravagantly as the woman had been. Lance had no idea what was going on, but… he did have an armful of cute guy. A guy he needed a name for, so he could stop calling him _cute guy_. “What’s your name?”

 

The man looked up to him, straightening out and coming just shy under Lance. The man also had a slight heel in his boots, so Lance knew he was at least an inch or so taller.  
“I’m Keith.” he said softly. “And, to whom do I owe the pleasure of saving me?”

 

Lance looked into his eyes, smiling a cocky smile, “The name’s Lance.” he said, winking at Keith.

 

+++++

 

Back outside, the group became restless. They hadn’t heard or seen Lance for nearly an hour. It couldn’t take that long for him to scout out the lower floor!

“We have to go in there!” Pidge said, narrowing her eyes. “He’s probably in trouble!”  
“If we go in, we could jeopardize whatever test he’s taking right now.” Allura said, but even Hunk wasn’t on her side.

 

“Lance is more important right now. He could be hurt while we’re all out here twiddling our thumbs.”

 

 

“Whose twiddling what?” The group turned back to the castle. Lance was standing at the door, eyebrow raised. “Whats up? You guys look like you’ve seen a ghost.”  
“Lance!”  
“Which is weird, because I… think I did actually see one?” the rogue frowned more, ears twitching. “I mean, judging off what I told Keith about her, she was the princess and she died like… really long ago.”

 

“Keith?” Pidge raised an eyebrow and Lance instantly perked up, a wide, goofy smile and a blush spreading across his face.  
“Oh! Uh,” he cleared his throat, stepping to the side and held out his arms, “may I introduce his royal highness, Keith! Prince of the Marmoran lands!”

 

Keith stepped into view, a cloak wrapped around his shoulders. He smiled, a small blush playing at his face as he hesitantly waved.  
“Um. Hello.” he said softly. “You can just call me Keith. Thank you for letting me travel with you all.”

 

“What?!” The group turned, eyes zeroing in on Lance who grinned, sheepishly.  
“I’ll, uh, tell you guys about it while we’re walking. But, uh, short version… true love’s kiss?” He turned to Keith, raising an eyebrow.  
“Close enough.” the prince said, a casual shrug.

 

The group only got louder, demanding Lance to tell them all exactly _what_ happened inside.  
Keith only smiled, his hand gently reaching for Lance’s hand, fingers curling together.

 

It would be a long explanation, but… they’d get it out. Eventually.


End file.
